Advent 2014 A Journey of Hope - Wednesday, December 3, 2014 2 Peter 1:5-9 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. Our journey of 2014 has been marked with a 19-hour stay on I-65 in the middle of an ice storm, a visit to Walt Disney World a few days later, burying my grandmother on my birthday, becoming a shareholder at the firm, and going through a 4-week span of testing to confirm that I did not have breast cancer. I used to shake my head and wonder why all of the positive things in my life seemed to be paired with the negative, but this year I have finally grown to appreciate the balance that comes with having both. Our 9-hour journey to Walt Disney World was nothing compared to being stranded for 19 hours on the interstate. My professional promotion occurred on the same day as my grandmothers death, reminding me that material gain matters much less than matters of the heart. And my breast cancer scare shook me into being much more appreciative of my own health and happiness. I love how Peter describes all of the qualities that make life wonderful - faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness, and love - and then points out that these qualities will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive. Holding onto bitterness or hate, wondering why all of the bad things happen - these attitudes make us ineffective and shortsighted. In order to keep our journey of life full of hope, we must focus our efforts on adding goodness and love to our lives. Dear Heavenly Father, In this season of hope, may we release that which distracts us and focus our efforts on bringing goodness and love into our own lives and into the lives of others. Amen. Jamie Erdberg
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 13:18:18 +0000
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